Posted in Basketball, General Comments, Sports, tagged 2023 Warriors Regular Season, Basketball, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Draymond Green, Gary Payton II, General Comments, Golden State Warriors, Jonathan Kuminga, Klay Thompson, National Basketball Association, NBA, Splash Brothers, Sports, Steph Curry, Trayce Jackson-Davis on January 4, 2024|
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| Game 34 is in the books… The Warriors choke their way back to two games below .500 with a close (last second, 3pts) loss to the Denver Nuggets. The Nuggets are 25W/11L to the Warriors 16W/18L and the Nuggets are last season’s NBA Champions, so the loss wasn’t completely unexpected. The dramatic manner of the loss was. |
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| The final score in this game: 127 to 130. Both teams had 10 point leads at one point or another during the game. The Warriors outscored the Nuggets by 20pts for the third quarter, but they simply could not hold onto the lead as the Nuggets outscored the Warriors by 16pts in the final period. The last 3pts were from a half court shot with no time left on the clock when the ball went through the net! |
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| Regular Season Record – (16 Wins – 18 Losses) |
| Game 34: Warriors 127 / Magic 130 |
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| Initial Observations: The Warriors look like they are a 36 minute team playing 48 minute games. Of the 34 games played, well over 20 of the games have been won or lost by 5pts in the last couple of minutes – and most of them have been losses. Klay(24pts) and Steph(30pts) got their “Splash Brothers” points (50+), but in the end, it wasn’t enough to win this game. |
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| Jonathan Kuminga and Jackson-Davis continue to impress. Kuminga had an outstanding overall game – points(16), rebounding(4), and offense(4 assists). The bad news is he did not play at all during the critical final 5 minutes when the Warriors needed his athleticism desperately. (That was simply a poor coaching decision.) |
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| Jackson-Davis did not have a “good” numbers game (4pts, 2 rebounds, and 2 assists), but he was still a presence helping out on both ends – even if it really doesn’t show in a stat box, he continues to pass the “eye-ball” test. |
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Conclusion: Live by your stars, die by your stars… Tonight it was die. The offense scored 4pts in the last 6 minutes of the game! Yes, the Nuggets defense stepped up their game, but this can NOT be described as anything other than what it was: an epic choke. There was a sliver of hope the game might go into overtime, but realistically, there was almost no hope the Warriors would win if it did go to OT.
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| Today’s other bad news is that Gary Payton II is not trivially injured (hamstring) and will probably be out for several weeks (4-6). There is some recent hope for the return of Draymond Green (from his league suspension), but as good as Draymond is on defense, he is still not a legitimate “big man”. The Warriors three main problems are: they’ve gotten old quickly (they don’t move on offense or defense), they don’t play like veterans (too many fouls and turnovers), and they lack a quality offensive (big man) threat in a set piece half-court offense. |
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| Game 35 is tomorrow against the Detroit Pistons (3W/31L) in SF… Thursday’s game will be the fifth of seven straight home games. Previously, I said the Warriors needed to win five of the seven to consider this a successful home stand. Now, we need to win all three of the remaining games just to have a winning home stand – not even a “successful” home stand. Fortunately, the Pistons are soooo bad, we stand a decent chance of getting a second win. |
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| Click here (4 January) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts. |
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| The only person you should try to be better than, is the person you were yesterday. |
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| ― Matty Mullens |
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| Click here (4 January) to see the posts of prior years. I started this blog in late 2009. Daily posting began in late January 2011. Not all of the days in the early years (2009-2010) will have posts. |
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Kevin Barrett's Blog 
2023 Warriors: Game 34 Loss (Record: 16W-18L)
Posted in Basketball, General Comments, Sports, tagged 2023 Warriors Regular Season, Basketball, Denver Nuggets, Detroit Pistons, Draymond Green, Gary Payton II, General Comments, Golden State Warriors, Jonathan Kuminga, Klay Thompson, National Basketball Association, NBA, Splash Brothers, Sports, Steph Curry, Trayce Jackson-Davis on January 4, 2024| Leave a Comment »
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